Predicting the Eastern Conference Standings 2014/2015 Season

hands11 · Post #281 » by **hands11** » Wed Nov 19, 2014 1:24 am

Hate to see a player get hurt, but this does help us with top seeding.

James-Johnson-Out-Indefinitely-With-Severe-Right-Ankle-Sprain
http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/23 ... kle-Sprain

cammac · Post #282 » by **cammac** » Thu Nov 20, 2014 6:43 am

hands11 wrote:Hate to see a player get hurt, but this does help us with top seeding.

James-Johnson-Out-Indefinitely-With-Severe-Right-Ankle-Sprain
http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/23 ... kle-Sprain

JJ being hurt is a loss for us he is a tough gritty defender and can be a productive scorer if he plays within his offensive limitations. Ross needs to step up till he gets back and DeMar needs to play some SF. Lou Williams can handle the extra load at SG.

stevemcqueen1 · Post #283 » by **stevemcqueen1** » Sat Nov 22, 2014 7:43 am

I was way to damn generous with my prediction of Cleveland. I spent all my time talking about their flaws and how they were overrated and I still picked them to finish second. :lol:

Should have gone with my gut and put them where I thought they belonged, behind us.

I was also defensively pessimistic about us even though I picked us to finish third and win 54 games. I thought Beal and Wall were a year away but it's looking like the future is now with them. We and Toronto are clearly the two best teams in the conference right now and there is a noticeable drop to the next tier with Cleveland, Chicago, and Miami.

Kanyewest · Post #284 » by **Kanyewest** » Mon Nov 24, 2014 12:21 am

How do you only throw for 100 yards? Was Mark Brunell playing?

Severn Hoos · Post #285 » by **Severn Hoos** » Mon Nov 24, 2014 8:37 pm

I just looked at the standings and noticed that Toronto has played 9 home games to only 4 road games so far. No doubt, they've had a great start, and they sure pounded the Wiz up there. But at some point, the schedule will turn around, and they'll have to keep the same level of efficiency on the road that they do at home.

Same thing with the Conference breakdown - they are 3-0 against the West. But all 3 games were at home, and two of those were against the Jazz and the depleted Thunder.

Right now they look like the best team in the East. Should be fun to see if that holds up over the course of the season.

Post #286 » by **LyricalRico** » Mon Nov 24, 2014 8:53 pm

stevemcqueen1 wrote:I was way to damn generous with my prediction of Cleveland. I spent all my time talking about their flaws and how they were overrated and I still picked them to finish second.

Should have gone with my gut and put them where I thought they belonged, behind us.

And the best part is that they appear to have legit roster issues, so it won't be as simple as guys getting accustomed to roles (like the first half season when LeBron was in Miami). The guys they have just aren't the guys that you need when building around LeBron IMO.

Basically, unless they can somehow trade Love+Verajao for Marc Gasol and find the next Eric Snow so that Kyrie can play off the ball (neither of which will actually happen) - they're a 35-40 win team and LeBron's stuck on 2 championships.

I love it! :clap:

Post #287 » by **nate33** » Mon Nov 24, 2014 9:24 pm

LyricalRico wrote:
stevemcqueen1 wrote:I was way to damn generous with my prediction of Cleveland. I spent all my time talking about their flaws and how they were overrated and I still picked them to finish second.

Should have gone with my gut and put them where I thought they belonged, behind us.

And the best part is that they appear to have legit roster issues, so it won't be as simple as guys getting accustomed to roles (like the first half season when LeBron was in Miami). The guys they have just aren't the guys that you need when building around LeBron IMO.

Basically, unless they can somehow trade Love+Verajao for Marc Gasol and find the next Eric Snow so that Kyrie can play off the ball (neither of which will actually happen) - they're a 35-40 win team and LeBron's stuck on 2 championships.

I love it!

They're going to win more than 35-40 games even if no trades are made. They're not looking good right now, but it's a long, long season and they play in a bad, bad conference.

Kanyewest · Post #288 » by **Kanyewest** » Mon Nov 24, 2014 11:46 pm

Cleveland would be a 7 seed if the playoffs started today- it would be another Washington/Cleveland 1st round playoff matchup.

stevemcqueen1 · Post #289 » by **stevemcqueen1** » Tue Nov 25, 2014 12:45 am

Cleveland will make the playoffs and they'll be a mid seed but they aren't a juggernaut at all. If they actually finished with the seventh seed, that would give the East's two seed a hell of a road: Cleveland then ostensibly Chicago, then ostensibly Toronto.

I think Cleveland finish much better than 7th though. They will get more consistent eventually. They'll remain beatable, but they won't remain bad. I think...

I'm thinking:

1.) Toronto
2.) Washington
3.) Chicago
4.) Cleveland
5.) Atlanta
6.) Miami
7.) Indy
8.) Milwaukee

Is possible. And if Paul George actually makes it back before the end of the season, I wouldn't relish playing Indy in the first round.

Nivek · Post #290 » by **Nivek** » Tue Nov 25, 2014 1:43 am

Basketball-Reference is currently forecasting the Wizards to finish 2nd in the East this season with 46-47 wins (46.5 in their model). According to their SRS forecast, the Wizards would be 11th in the West.

stevemcqueen1 · Post #291 » by **stevemcqueen1** » Tue Nov 25, 2014 2:31 am

We'll win closer to 56 than 46.

TGW · Post #292 » by **TGW** » Tue Nov 25, 2014 2:37 am

Nivek wrote:Basketball-Reference is currently forecasting the Wizards to finish 2nd in the East this season with 46-47 wins (46.5 in their model). According to their SRS forecast, the Wizards would be 11th in the West.

Until the Wizards beat a top 10 basketball team, I ain't buyin' anything they sellin.

Kanyewest · Post #293 » by **Kanyewest** » Tue Nov 25, 2014 4:19 am

TGW wrote:
Nivek wrote:Basketball-Reference is currently forecasting the Wizards to finish 2nd in the East this season with 46-47 wins (46.5 in their model). According to their SRS forecast, the Wizards would be 11th in the West.

Until the Wizards beat a top 10 basketball team, I ain't buyin' anything they sellin.

The Wizards beat the Indiana Pacers who just beat the Dallas Mavericks- so we kind of beat a top 5 team

JWizmentality · Post #294 » by **JWizmentality** » Tue Nov 25, 2014 4:46 am

You play the schedule in front of you. No excuses, you are what your record says you are.

Nivek · Post #295 » by **Nivek** » Tue Nov 25, 2014 3:52 pm

JWizmentality wrote:You play the schedule in front of you. No excuses, you are what your record says you are.

At the end of this season, I agree that a team is its record. With 70 games still on the schedule, and with significant strength of schedule differences...not yet.

I also agree that there's no need for any professional team to apologize for its schedule. They can only play who's on the calendar that day, and they can't control who the opponent is or how good they are.

Post #296 » by **pineappleheadindc** » Tue Nov 25, 2014 3:54 pm

Our regular season record has just GOT to be better because, this season, we won't have 40 odd games of our first to guys coming off the bench being Eric "freaking" Maynor and Jan "hot gf" Vesely. We were so hobbled with those two off the bench at the beginning of last season...

Nivek · Post #297 » by **Nivek** » Tue Nov 25, 2014 4:02 pm

pineappleheadindc wrote:Our regular season record has just GOT to be better because, this season, we won't have 40 odd games of our first to guys coming off the bench being Eric "freaking" Maynor and Jan "hot gf" Vesely. We were so hobbled with those two off the bench at the beginning of last season...

They'll still have Seraphin, though.

Jstock12 · Post #298 » by **Jstock12** » Wed Nov 26, 2014 12:41 am

mhd wrote:I think Toronto is the best team in the East, because most of their players are young, on the rise, and they are deep. A big key for them is for Amir Johnson to stay healthy. I have it:

1) Toronto
2) Wizards
3) Bulls
4) Cavs
5) Hornets
6) Heat
7) Hawks
8) Pacers

verbal8 · Post #299 » by **verbal8** » Wed Nov 26, 2014 6:36 pm

Severn Hoos wrote:I just looked at the standings and noticed that Toronto has played 9 home games to only 4 road games so far. No doubt, they've had a great start, and they sure pounded the Wiz up there. But at some point, the schedule will turn around, and they'll have to keep the same level of efficiency on the road that they do at home.

They Raptors have benefited some from an easy/home-heavy schedule. However they have demolished their competition.

I think 3 major things have happened.
Jonas V is emerging as a young star.
Lowry has continued his All-NBA level production
Lou Williams is producing extremely well.

I don't think Lou Williams will continue producing at this level, but he should be a solid contributor. They should get more efficency from DeRozan(and/or give more of his minutes to Terrence Ross).

Another good sign for the Raptors is they aren't giving minutes to Fields or Hayes based on their paychecks.

Post #300 » by **TheOUTLAW** » Thu Nov 27, 2014 5:53 pm

LyricalRico wrote:
stevemcqueen1 wrote:I was way to damn generous with my prediction of Cleveland. I spent all my time talking about their flaws and how they were overrated and I still picked them to finish second.

Should have gone with my gut and put them where I thought they belonged, behind us.

And the best part is that they appear to have legit roster issues, so it won't be as simple as guys getting accustomed to roles (like the first half season when LeBron was in Miami). The guys they have just aren't the guys that you need when building around LeBron IMO.

Basically, unless they can somehow trade Love+Verajao for Marc Gasol and find the next Eric Snow so that Kyrie can play off the ball (neither of which will actually happen) - they're a 35-40 win team and LeBron's stuck on 2 championships.

I love it!

35-40? Lol, this should be interesting to revisit later